Louise Roesser earned her BS in Ornamental Horticulture and is presently pursuing a Master’s in Horticulture.

This article applies to:

Botanical Names by Louise Roesser

Do botanical names cause you confusion, get you tongue-tied or seem unnecessary? There actually are reasons for the scientific mumble jumble. In addition to gaining an understanding of the scientific names of plants, knowing just a little “Latinese” will place you a step higher in the gardening world.

Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707 to 1778) revolutionized the plant classification system during the 18th century when Latin was the most widely used international language of science and scholarship. Known as the “father of modern plant and animal classification,” he based his system on structural (morphological) similarities and differences, particularly regarding the reproductive organs, which are least likely to change over time. Linnaeus began his classification system by separating the plant kingdom into major divisions, based on evolution.

The example below shows how the pink flowering dogwood is classified.

Kingdom: Plantae (the plant kingdom)

Division: Trachaeophyta(vascular plants)

Class: Angiospermae (angiosperm – a flowering plant or one that produces seed in ovaries)

Subclass: Dicotyledonae (dicot – a plant having two cotyledons: the first leaflike structures that form at the first node on a stem)

Order: Cornales

Family: Cornaceae

Genus: Cornus

Specific epithet or species: Cornusflorida (flowering dogwood)

Variety: Cornusflorida var. rubra (pink flowering dogwood)

If we look beyond the intimidating Latin names (often incorporating Greek), we begin to see a very simple classification system. The naming of plants is based on a latin two-word “binomial” system – bi meaning two, nomen meaning name. The genus (plural – genera) is listed first, always capitalized and consisting of a group of one or more plants that share one or more characteristics. For example, all plants in the genus Acer are types of maples and are found in the Aceraceae family. A generic name is either a noun or a word treated as such with a masculine (ends in -us, -er, -is or -r), feminine (ends in -a, -ra, -is or -ris) or neutral (ends in -um, -rum, -is or -re) gender. Exceptions are plants with endings that are the same for all three genders (-ans, -ens, -x and -or).

The specific epithet, also known as the species, is a group of plants within the genus that possess certain differences but are capable of possible interbreeding. Written as the second part of a scientific name and always lowercase, the species can often convey to us more specific information about a particular plant, such as size (usually relative to other species of the genus), growth habit, color or habitat. Acer rubrum is a red maple (rubrum meaning red), and Acer saccharum is a sugar maple (saccharum refers to sugar). Species that contain proper names usually indicate the collector or someone who has studied a particular plant. In the case of chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), the species name honors Gotthilf Henry Ernest Muhlenberg (1753-1815), a Lutheran minister and botanist from Pennsylvania. The species name can also indicate the origin of a plant, as with Camellia japonica (of Japan) and Cercis canadensis (the redbud), indicating it is from Canada.

Variety

The variety is a subgroup name for a plant that differs only slightly from the species. It further delineates a specific plant and follows the genus and species. Varieties are indicated by “var.,” as in Rosa gallica var. officinalis. A botanical variety will sexually breed true to form in nature.

Cultivars

Dragon Wing begonia (Begonia x hybrida ‘Bepared’)

Cultivars (a combination of the words cultivated and variety) are plants that are bred for their desirable characteristics and must be maintained by humans through controlled sexual (seeds) or asexual propagation. Cultivar names are either English or Latinized and are indicated by an enclosure in single quotes as in Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’. Like the species, the cultivar may offer descriptive information that may help gardeners when choosing a particular plant.

A cross between two or more species is a hybrid and is denoted with an “x” as in Abelia x grandiflora. (Hint: This Abelia species has larger flowers than others.) Did you guess that? If so, you are catching on.

The naming of plants is based on a set of rules by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), which was first published in 1930. Botanists make plant name changes only when necessary to conform to the code.

So why not just use common or vernacular names? They are usually much easier to remember and pronounce, but there are problems associated with them. A plant may have several common names, depending on the country it is grown in, section of the country or even among different garden clubs. Without botanical names, it would be impossible to keep plants in order, to tell one from the other or even to order your favorite from a catalog. Also, if you are inquiring about a plant in another country, the botanical name is the same all over the world.

When it comes to selecting and purchasing plants for your home and landscape, how can botanical names be useful? Begin by becoming familiar with genera of common landscape plants such as Ilex (hollies), Quercus (oaks) and Juniperus (junipers) to name a few. Next, familiarize yourself with descriptive species names.

If you are looking for an accent tree or shrub for your landscape, you might want to try Juniperus chinensis ‘Torulosa’ (origin – China; torulosa meaning twisted). Looking for a colorful evergreen dwarf shrub? Nandina domestica ‘Nana Purpurea’ (dwarf purple) might be just the right cultivar for you.

Although gardeners still use common names every day, occasionally there is a real need to use a little “Latinese.”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of State-by-State Gardening, its parent company or affiliates. The author is solely responsible for all content. Our articles are only meant to educate and entertain our readers. We are not medical professionals and cannot recommend the ingestion or topical application of any herbal remedy, poultice, tea, etc. Please consult a medical professional before ingesting any plant.